Noncovalent control for bottom-up assembly of functional supramolecular wires

J Am Chem Soc. 2006 Oct 4;128(39):12602-3. doi: 10.1021/ja0640288.

Abstract

Noncovalent bonds have been used to assemble stacks of pi-electron-rich moieties at a surface, generating a pathway for charge transport. The system is comprised of a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivative incorporating two amide groups which fasten the relative orientations of the electroactive moieties in the supramolecular polymer that is formed at the surface of graphite in octanoic acid. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) combined with molecular mechanics calculations has been used to prove the structure of the wires, and theory, corroborated with STS experiments, predicts that they are promising superstructures for charge transport.